Youths want market close to school demolished

Blessing Elahor, Lagos

3 months ago

Some youths under the aegis of the Strategic Thinkers Group (STG) in Ifako -Ijaiye have called on the Lagos State government and the Lagos State Ministry of Education to demolish what they called an illegal market at Alfred Williams Street, beside the Fred Williams School, Iju Station.

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According to the STG spokesman, Olayinka Bamtefa, activities at the market constituted a distraction to the school’s students.

Bamtefa said, “With the exception of this place, I don’t think there is any school that has a market close to it. When the government placed a ban on the location of markets close to schools, it did so with the best interest of the students in mind.

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“We have noticed that in most cases, students do not go to class and they spend most of their time in shanties and stalls, which constitute the majority of these illegal markets.”

Bamtefa said that some members of the community regarded the market as their livelihood and had, therefore, been ensuring it wasn’t demolished.

“Some time ago, some officials from the state’s Ministry of Education came over and instructed the market to be demolished, but that instruction was swept under the carpet.

“Last week, members of the Lagos State Task Force also came calling on this same issue, and from all indications, it seems the issue will be swept under the carpet. But we won’t allow that. We are calling on the government to consider the plight of the school’s staff and students and take a lasting solution on this matter. We won’t stop here. We will send a strong petition to those mentioned and even take the case to social media if nothing is done.”